Savior mindset & Reciprocity - By identifying the assets, students are more likely to avoid the “savior mindset”. Students learn to appreciate the positive attributes of the people and places they are working with.They begin to understand that they are there to learn along with everyone else involved. The goal of any service-learning experience should be to create a two-way reciprocal learning experience. Reciprocity means all stakeholders have mutual respect for each other’s contributions to the community efforts and the solutions. Everyone has a role to play and a voice to be heard and learned from. For example, a group of ISY students decided to meet with the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf here in Yangon. They discovered that an asset of the children at the school for the deaf was that they knew sign language. Our students decided to work on improving the library at the school for the deaf, and reciprocally, the students who attended the school for the deaf provided sign language lessons for ISY students. This provided the opportunity to have a twoway reciprocal relationship between the groups. Creating agreed upon definitions and common language used to describe what we mean by doing service learning can be transformative for schools. It prepares students for solving real-world authentic issues which is so greatly needed in the world today. When the language of service learning is embedded in a school’s mission and
Press Release
SENIA International Announces New Executive Director
vision, it creates a foundation for a school-wide approach to education that is centered around identifying authentic needs and planning for and carrying-out actions that meet those needs. Ultimately, service learning is built through awareness that comes from looking more deeply into the nature of the situations students are exploring through their curriculum. The questions we have to ask are, have we as educators allowed our students the opportunity to stop, step back, and look more deeply to notice the multitude of ways they can engage in change for the better? Have we provided our students with the language, tools, and time needed to engage in real service learning? As our collective awareness of global issues and their true causes becomes clearer, students learn how to work with and engage with them. These issues of global and local significance no longer have the power to leave students feeling helpless because they begin to see that each of us has the power to engage with them and make a positive difference. We come to recognize that service learning leading to action based on addressing authentic needs is the most logical and forward-thinking approach to education out there. This is because it provides students with the tools, they need to lead a life that is both caring and impactful.
ing for the support and resources required to enhance the lives of individuals with dissablities. About SENIA SENIA was started by a group of international school teachers in China in 2002. The goal was to create a support network for teachers and other professionals working with children with special educational needs in Asia. SInce then, SENIA has expanded
Lori Boll to Steer SENIA’s Growth Hong Kong - The Special Education Network and Inclusion Association (SENIA) announced the hiring of its first executive director, educator Lori Boll. “SENIA is seeing rapid worldwide growth and along with the transformation of SENIA (Asia) to SENIA International, we needed a dynamic educational leader to continue to push SENIA’s mission/vision,” said Kate Balsamo, SENIA’s Board Chair. “Lori Boll’s long record of advocating for students in the special needs community along with her personal family connection to autism, made her an obvious candidate.” Lori is no stranger to SENIA. She attended her first conference in 2010 and organized the SENIA 2011 conference in Shanghai, China. She and six others formed SENIA’s first board, of which she has been a member for the past nine years. Lori is currently finishing her work as the Intensive Learning Needs teacher at International School Bangkok, a program she created with support from the school. Although she is sad to leave her classroom, she is excited to help lead SENIA in its work worldwide advocat-
About Lori Boll Lori Boll is an experienced Special Education leader with a personal connection to individuals with disabilities. In 2003, Lori’s son Braden was diagnosed with profound autism.This milestone event changed her focus from teaching elementary students to advocating for all children and their education with a focus on meaningful inclusion. In Shanghai, China Lori worked as a principal for a small school for children with special needs and went on to co-found the first inclusive school in the city. Currently Lori is running the Intensive Needs Program which opened up at International School Bangkok in 2017. Lori has two graduate degrees; one in Reading Education and the other in Special Education and has been teaching for over twentyfive years in international schools, including American International School Riyadh, Jakarta International School, and Concordia International School, as well as in the United States in California and Colorado. Spring 2020 Issue 25